Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Another HAIL storm!

Our good Friends Greg and Bonnie from Portland, TN arrived Sunday afternoon in good shape. We hadn’t seen them for way too long and it was so good to see them again.
They have a beautiful RV that also hauls their two Harleys, pulled by a very pretty Volvo semi truck that has been designed to pull an RV. It is an excellent rig and reminds us so much of our big truck days……we know what an enjoyable set up they are. We got them all settled in our old spot.

Monday we were up early and took them out into Custer State Park for a morning hike to get us all moving. Ms. Pat had an appointment with her favorite hair dresser after we finished the hike and Bonnie went with her to do some shopping in our little town of Custer. Greg and I were going to take a little Bike ride around the hills. However, we got to visiting and had such an enjoyable time that we almost forgot about the bike ride.

It is so great being around Greg, just talking and discussing things. He had been telling me for several weeks before he arrived to save some “work” that I needed done. I did just happen to have a few little jobs that I had been wanting to do. :-) So with Greg’s insistance and assistance, we mowed and weed- whacked for a while, dug up some rocks, cleaned behind the barn and smoothed out some of the dirt around the new addition on the toy barn. Boy-O boy, it looks sharp now. I am so happy to get that done and with Greg’s great help and muscle power, it wasn’t near as nasty a job as it would have been alone.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Ms. Pat had an early doctor appointment in Rapid City. So we all piled into the new Silverado and enjoyed the beautiful drive into town. When we got the doctor appointment out of the way, we, of course, had a full day of shopping planned. Wow....Lowes, then Cabelas, then the Tractor Supply store, Sam’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sheels Sporting Goods and Safeway along with a quick stop to fill our PowerTank with Co2. That made for a long day but it was lot more fun and enjoyable to have Greg and Bonnie with us.

We were a little late in heading for home and I wanted to stop in one more little, new gun shop south of town and then take an enjoyable drive across Custer State Park on the way home. At the gun shop, I finally found the pistol I have been looking for and the guy made me a super deal. WOW, I was thinking what a beautiful day this had been as we all got back into the truck and headed across the Park.

Uh Oh, what was that developing in the Northwest? Hmmm, storm clouds for sure. Maybe it's going on North around us. Gosh...looks like we are heading right into it. The winding roads in the park made us look like we were heading away from it and then as we turned it would be directly in front of us. Suddenly we saw a few drops of rain on the windshield. I believe we are just going along the edge of it and the storm won’t be bad. Wrong! All at once the bottom fell out and we were in a hard rain storm. But you could see the sun shining just to the South of us...so we are still just on the edge of it.

Then the HAIL began. You know the drill, starts small, then gets bigger, and bigger, and soon we are all flinching and saying OH NO!! Wow, we took some serious hits, large hard ice. There was no place to go. I did pull under some trees in a campground to attempt to find a little protection. I don’t know if it helped or not but there is not a lot you can do....except PRAY!

About as fast as it started hailing, it stopped and we continued on home. It was just barely sprinkling as we pulled up to the toy barn and Greg jumped out and opened the garage door. I quickly pulled the truck inside where it was safe Whew! I wasn’t sure if it had any damage or not and I really didn’t want to look but later when I checked I couldn’t see a mark or dent of any kind. WOW...we were lucky. It was a hair-raising storm and way too close for comfort. But meanwhile, the Motorhome was all safe and sound under it's new shelter!

Well here it is Wednesday and it’s another beautiful day. Everyone is up and at'em and hollering for me to hurry up so we can go on our hike in the Park.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! As we enjoy our good friends and continue to Praise our Father for his many blessings….

It hailed on us last summer when we were in Custer, while Loyce was in the Quilt shop on the West end of Main street. Just all at once it opened up and the ice began to fall....bigger and bigger. We still have the dings in the Honda to prove it...... Hope the storms pass on by in the future.... Rod

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Mike and Pat McFall

We sold our home in Tallahassee, FL and began full-timing 16 years ago. We recently purchased a home at North Ranch and now have a Cabin on our property in the Black Hills...so we are now part-timing again.

We stay on our property in the Black Hills south of Custer in the Summer and at North Ranch in Congress, Arizona in the Winter. We only travel a few months out of the year, visiting kids and friends around the country when we can.

We hope you will join us on our adventures and visit us at our homes when you are in the area. Please feel free to leave us a comment.